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http://www.online.ie/news/irish_examiner/viewer.adp?article=1848395 The Irish Examiner October 1, 2002 Over 500 foreign military jets allowed to land in past year By Fionnan Sheahan, Political Reporter -The vast majority of the overflights and landings are by planes from NATO member states and the details of who is using our airspace should be available to the public.... "We don't know what weapons were on board and whether nuclear weapons were on board." -PANA also accused the Government of failing to secure a legally binding protocol over military arrangements....The Danish Government has such a protocol and anti-Nice campaigners are now calling on the Taoiseach to explain why Ireland does not have one as well. MORE than 500 foreign military planes landed in airports in this country in the past year and almost 2,000 military aircraft flew in Irish airspace. Permission was granted to 523 military aircraft from 33 countries including the USA, China, Russia, Britain, France, Germany, Ukraine and the Palestinian Authority to land between August 2001 and July 2002. Permission to overfly in Irish airspace during this time was granted by the Government to 1,980 planes from 29 countries including India, Iran, Israel, the US, Britain and France. The Peace and Neutrality Alliance (PANA) obtained the figures from the Department of Foreign Affairs under the Freedom of Information Act. But requests for a breakdown of the numbers of landings and overflights per country have been denied by the department. PANA said the figures raise serious questions about Irish neutrality ahead of the Nice Treaty Referendum. PANA chairperson Roger Cole said there are no controls in place to ensure these aircraft are not carrying nuclear weapons. Successive governments have refused to declare Ireland a nuclear-free zone, such as in New Zealand where aircraft carrying nuclear material are denied entry to its airspace, he said. "They rant on about Sellafield because they know there's not a whole lot they can do about it. But they could easily have a nuclear-free zone," Mr Cole said. The vast majority of the overflights and landings are by planes from NATO member states and the details of who is using our airspace should be available to the public, he said. "We don't know what weapons were on board and whether nuclear weapons were on board," Mr Cole said. But the Department of Foreign Affairs played down the figures, stating that a lot of these planes are military aircraft carrying politicians or diplomats and that the same rules apply to flights from this country. "The Irish Air Corps jet with the President on board counts as a military aircraft," a spokesman said. PANA also accused the Government of failing to secure a legally binding protocol over military arrangements. The Nice Treaty does not exempt Ireland from joining a common European defence policy, Mr Cole said. The Seville Declaration is not worth the paper it is written on, he said. The Danish Government has such a protocol and anti-Nice campaigners are now calling on the Taoiseach to explain why Ireland does not have one as well. But Communications Minister Dermot Ahern insisted the commitments received from EU member states since the last Nice Referendum mean a Yes vote will further safeguard Irish neutrality. "The Peace and Neutrality Alliance, who claim Nice will weaken our traditional position, are wrong. Under the Treaty, Irish people will have to agree by referendum before Ireland can become involved in any European common defence arrangements," Mr Ahern said. __________________________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? New DSL Internet Access from SBC & Yahoo! http://sbc.yahoo.com --------------------------- ANTI-NATO INFORMATION LIST ==^================================================================ This email was sent to: [email protected] EASY UNSUBSCRIBE click here: http://topica.com/u/?a84x2u.bacIlu Or send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] T O P I C A -- Register now to manage your mail! http://www.topica.com/partner/tag02/register ==^================================================================
